Rita Farr's new movie set is also the field demo of new StarrWare technology, and the Calculator has sent some goons to steal them. Trouble occurs, and heroes step in to make a difference.

Date:

2014-06-19

Related:

Various

NPCs:

NA

Scene Runner:

Power Woman

Social/Plot:

Plot

Players:

....

A movie shoot in Metropolis is certainly nothing new. And neither is a scene involving the famous actress Rita Farr. But what is new today is that the entire scene is being filmed by a collection of 'camera men' who aren't carrying cameras. Instead, they're wearing slightly bulky goggles, liberally splashed with the StarrWare logo. The movie is very real. But its filming has been co-opted by a corporate conglomerate as a field test for new technology: StarrWare smart goggles. What only a few very specific higher-ups know is that the goggles are in fact a contract in development with the US military, with extremely advanced sensor technology incorporated. All of this allows a collection of eight guys to capture all of the action of an entire Metropolis city block and the associated park, in every direction and all at the same time, up to a level of twenty stories and more.

All of that is great, because the action scene is a really big deal. Rita is supposed to slide along one of the 'rolling skyways' - a horizontal escalator connecting two buildings over a hundred feet up in the air - and then disappear at the end so that her stunt double can step in for the fight scene. Everyone is very amped, and the call to action is carried via a simple electronic message to everyone as the scene unfolds.

Rita doesn't need the stunt double for safety, but more for getting the action to look smooth. She's pretty new even to the idea of action movies, having cut her teeth in romantic comedies where her main job was to laugh, look pretty and occasionally take a piece of wedding cake to the face. Nothing like this, that's for sure. She still feels odd about having someone more fragile than she is take a risk on her behalf, but the agents and producers assured her that everything would be all right.

The scene gets started without a hitch, as Rita assumes her position and the call goes out. It's a very different feeling, of course, being part of an action scene in a movie. It's even more different when there are no visible cameras, no lighting rigs. Not even the guys with the goggles are all right up on top of Rita. Instead, just two of them are up on her level, one at either end of the skyway. Others are in positions on other skyways, down on the ground, or up on a far-distant rooftop. All together, they are supposedly capturing every iota of the scene with greater detail than any cameras ever devised.

And then, just as Rita starts her move down the skyway, an explosion rips through the skyway, shattering it and sending most of its length hurtling down and away, like any broken bridge might.

Unseen to most - though the goggles would catch it - several teams move in, each composed of two people in apparent civilian garb. Each pair seems to arrow in on the guys in the goggles, reaching out to grab them. All while everyone is much more distracted with the disaster occurring up in the air. Poor Rita!

Elasti-Girl had been pretty focused on her prep, just about to spring when suddenly the explosions erupt. Instinctively, she hits the deck, throwing herself down onto her belly as the explosions rip through the air. She scrambles and grabs for leverage, looking up to see the teams starting to head for the cameramen. Rita's one of those stars who gets close to the crew, believing them to be plenty responsible for making her look good and respecting them as workers. And now these…these jerks were just going to rob them? Non on her watch.

"Hey! That's not yours!" she calls, starting to sprint towards the danger. She's not entirely sure what she's going to do when she gets there, but, by gum, she's gonna do it!

When she realizes the walkway is starting to give way beneath her, though, she does the only thing she can think of to do: she jumps off the side and expands, her body growing at exponential speed until her massive shoes hit the ground with a thud, the giant actress standing beside the skyway and cocking her head at the little men trying to steal.

An explosion, and a fifty-foot tall actress in the heart of Metropolis. If that isn't a call for the city's resident superheroine du jour, what is? Power Woman appears in a white and crimson streak, resolving only as she comes up underneath the collapsing skyway, catching it before it can fall /too/ far, and lifting it back up into place. If one were close enough, they might even hear her mutter, "Indigo is going to be very annoyed. Hope her drones are handy." Then the caped wonder that is Kara Zor-L hovers in mid-air, busy using heat vision to weld the skyway back into place. It means she's not chasing after the bad guys.

Said bad guys - sixteen of them in all, with eight teams of two - are busy wrestling with the cameramen, as Rita can clearly see. Several teams have already won out, stripping away the goggles and the attached small computer fanny packs, and they're trying to make their way into the crowds to blend in and disappear, though they haven't succeeded at that just yet. It doesn't appear that the jerks are letting Rita's stern warning stop them.

Elasti-Girl looks appreciatively over as Power Woman saves the structure, realizing she probably should've done that herself. Still getting used to this superheroing thing! "Thanks," she says, her voice a bit boomy as she turns her attention fully back to the thieves, "Hey, I'm talking here!" she says, and she reaches out and tries to snag a few of the thieves up in a giant, well-manicured hand, measuring her grip to make sure she doesn't squish them.

These guys are doing their best, but Rita has the advantage of having spotted them before they could start their blending-in routine. As such, she can manage to grab up at least one pair, perhaps two - given she has two hands. And she can probably manage not to crush them into goey paste, but they're certainly screaming as if she is crushing them. After all, they were getting away!

Power Woman about-faces, and works on welding the other end of that skyway in place, making sure it's not going to fall before the city's repair drones can get to it and make everything right again. The escalator-like moving parts won't be working until those drone repairs are complete, but at least no one will be falling to their deaths. It's progress.

Elasti-Girl holds the wriggling men up to her face, right in front her massive eye, narrowing it at them, "Oh, hush up! I'm hardly squeezing!" she demands, not sure exactly what she's going to do with them yet. When she gets the second pair, she counts that as a victory. She's not going to be able to chase down all the miscreants anyway, but catching these might lead to finding the rest and recovering the goods.

"I suggest you boys cooperate. Maybe if you do, you'll have a chance to make something of yourselves instead of getting in trouble like this! Gosh!" she says, shaking her head in dismay as she glances over to see if PW needs any help.

Once the guys realize they can't get Rita to let go just by complaining, they eventually give up. Hey, at least some of their team got away! Maybe that means that bail money will be paid, as long as Calculator gets what the others managed to snag.

Once finished with the skyway, Power Woman lets go and floats up to face the giant of a heroine. "Hi there. Rita Farr, right? Elasti-girl? Pleased to meet you. Nice gob, grabbing those guys." Spotting the StarrWare goggles they're carrying, the blonde flying heroine frowns. "Why don't I help you bag these creeps, so you don't have to stay humungous to hold them?" she offers.

Elasti-Girl smiles and nods, ignoring some lingering whining from her captitves, 'Oh my gosh, Power Woman! Awesome, wow!" she says, actually blushing a bit as she's recognized. Hey, she's still new to the superheroing gig and she never quitee got used to being fams in the first place. "Oh, right! Yeah, sure," she says with a giggle, offering a handful of thugs to PW like a bouquet of man-flowers.

Kara smiles warmly and nods, then flies over to grab the handful she's offered, seizing one in each hand and then flying over to literally wrap them up in steel cables. They're not going anywhere. She'll take the next pair and do the same, then wait for Elasti-Girl to join her at normal size. "You did a great job catching them. Glad to see you weren't hurt." she offers, extending a blue-gauntleted hand to shake Rita's.

Elasti-Girl returns to her normaly height, brushing her shoulders off for a moment to make sure she doesn't have any debris or dust on her. She takes the outstretched hand, shaking, "I only wish I could've been faster! Those guys were quick! I guess they had a plan," she says, looking around as the crew tries to pull themselves together, "I'm guessing we're not going to do any more filming today, though." she sighs.

"Probably not." Kara agrees, giving a slight frown. Filming will probably be on hold, since the police are inbound and there will be statements to give, questions to answer, insurance forms to fill out, and more. It's going to be a complicated mess, honestly. "You did a great job, Elasti-girl. Give yourself credit where it's due. The whole skyway gave out under you, and you had enough presence of mind to deal with that /and/ capture these guys. You only have so many hands, so there's only so much you can do." Though if you move as fast as Power Woman does, options do open up. Still, it's a great job done. "You deserve a lot of credit." And Power Woman will be making sure that the press gives out that credit all to Rita Farr, superheroine!

Elasti-Girl blushes quite rosy, "Well, I'm still getting my feet wet in superheroing, but I hope I can do, um, big things," she grins at her own pun. She pats Eduardo, the caterer on the back as he walks by, "It'll be okay! The tilapia was really good today! Sorry if I almost stepped on you!" she calls after him. "I just hope I'm not horning on in your turf."

"There's /always/ room for more who are willing and able to help out." Power Woman offers, smiling. "I'm glad you were here today." That said, of course, it's time for those police and insurance statements. Hence the problems of being heroes.

Central Business District — Metropolis
When one thinks of Metropolis, that vision which occurs is usually a picture of Uptown. This is the true business district of Metropolis, with numerous corporate headquarters and other businesses spaced along nearly symetric lines across the breadth of Metropolis island. Uptown is the home of over two hundred major corporations. Even Uptown has its busy areas, and the northwest section is it. Not only is Maxwell Lord's Tower found here, but FAO Schwartz the toy manufacturer is here as well. St. Patrick's Cathedral, home of the cardinal of Metropolis can be found here as well. Other attractions include the Waldorf Astoria hotel, the IBM Building, and the General Motors Building. The main attraction in the area is LexCorp's corporate headquarters, the world's largest corporation.

As with all of New Troy (the island of Metropolis), this area is maintained by robotic drones that clean the streets, take out the trash, and keep everything looking nice. If damage is done to an area, robotic drones will automatically repair the areas to keep life undisturbed. Above, flying cars zoom through the cityscape.